“All of my close friends love limoncello,” says Danny DeVito. “You know who they are…” Not many people can get away with a line like that, but he’s right, I could probably guess at a few. “…From George Clooney, to Michael Douglas to Jack Nicholson…” he obliges, erasing any conceivable doubt.  Danny Devito’s Limoncello is not only the toast of Hollywood’s inner circle.

With the gin market in a state of positive flux there is a clear polarisation between the classics – the big juniper brews, such as Tanqueray, and the more fragrant new kids on the block, led by Hendrick’s. The intense activity of recent years which has seen so many gins coming on stream means there is now a rich panoply of different tastes on…

Malbec is still king in Argentina, exclaims Anne Forrest, wine buyer for Laithwaites, part of Direct Wines, which sells directly to consumers in a myriad countries including the US, UK, Australia, Germany and Switzerland. But there is a concern that, marvellous as Malbec undoubtedly is, the South American powerhouse might rest too heavily on it. Tim Atkin MW, who is widely recognised…

If you haven’t heard how well scotch whisky has been doing in recent months then, quite frankly, you must have been living in a cave. Scotch has been everywhere. New distilleries here, record growth and export figures there, new market opportunities, ridiculously expensive product launches… scotch whisky has found it into the newspapers and on to the television screens with an almost monotonous predictability.

There’s a new kid in town, making an entrance in a tall white bottle with blue livery, toting natural ingredients and an unmistakably yoghurty aroma.  Through the saloon doors steps Bols Natural Yoghurt Liqueur. A creamy white, sweet and sour addition to the liqueurs category – and Bols’ bulging armoury of offerings. You can almost hear the cream liqs at the bar saying: “You…

For many years regulators have been aware of the need to regulate advertising within digital media. However, operational challenges in implementing such controls delayed the extension of regulation. In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority’s remit to regulate digital media was only extended as recently as March 2011 – and even then its scope had limitations. This historic lack of regulation encouraged many brand owners…

How much market research is too much research?It could be argued that too much of anything may not be a good thing, but from my knowledge, no marketing executive in the drinks sector ever got fired for undertaking market research to provide appropriate solutions to meet their corporate objectives. Of course, it is the quality rather than the quantity of research that is important.